Shoe counter



A. C. SEWALL Aug.. 31 1937.

SHOE. COUNTER Filed May l' 1956 Patented Aug. 31, 1937 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to counters for shoes, and has among its objects the provision of a durable counter of composite material possessing the advantages of counters constructed entirely of leather and those constructed entirely of fiber board, without possessing the disadvantages of either.

The invention, which constitutes an improvement on the counter of applicants Patent 1,968,-

572, dated July 31, 1934, will be best understood from the following description when read in the light of the accompanying drawing, while the scope of the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawingz- Fig. 1 is a plan of a fragment of a composite strip of which the counter is made;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the strip according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the counter blank; Fig. 4 is a top edge View of the counter blank according to Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a plan of a modified form of counter blank;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the counter; and Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8--8 of Fig. 7. As pointed out in applicants prior patent above referred to, a counter constructed wholly of leather, to secure the necessary stiffness at the lower portions of the counter, must be relatively thick, which makes it expensive and makes it difcult to form the flange at the bottom for attaching the counter to the insoleand upper. 35 Further, a counter of such thickness, although it may be suitably beveled at its upper edge portion to secure the requisite flexibility at that portion, as a whole is rather bulky. In consequence, in practice a whole leather counter is commonly made of leather the thickness of which is a compromise between that which will secure the requisite stiffness at the lower portion and that which is too bulky. The result is an expensive counter which is not altogether satisfactory.

Further, when a counter is made wholly of fiber board or similar material, the counter, due to the relatively great stiffness of such material as compared to leather, may be relatively thin, which facilitates the forming of the bottom ange 50 and eliminates bulkiness while providing an inexpensive construction. However such a counter cannot be formed to secure the desired flexibility at the upper edge of the counter without resorting to expensive and troublesome softening 5 treatment, and in fact no satisfactory practical method of so treating ber board has yet been advanced.

According to the present invention, the lower portion of the counter is formed of a strip I of stiff fiber board which may be readily molded to 5 shape it and form the bottom flange 3 of the counter, while the upper portion of the counter is made of a strip 5 of flexible material such as natural or artificial leather, preferably the latter, for example, bibulous paper or flannel impregnated with latex or the like. Preferably the strips are of the same thickness, but, if desired, the upper flexible strip may be thinner than the fiber board strip.

In the practice of the invention adjacent edges of the strips I and 5 are relatively widely beveled as indicated at l and cemented together, preferably with rubber cement, to form a skived joint. The composite strip thus formed is indicated by Figs. 1 and 2. It may be of any convenient length, and from it may be stamped or cut counter blanks having the outline indicated by Fig. 3.

The counter blanks after being cut from the composite strip are then beveled at their upper edges as indicated at 9, at their lower edges as indicated at il, and at their end edges as indicated at I3. The lower edge of the blank is then preferably slightly crimped as indicated at I5 to facilitate the forming of the flange 3 of the counter during the molding operation. 30

The strip according to Fig. 3 may be molded to form the counter illustrated in Fig. '7 in which the walls are bent to a curved profile, an example of which is indicated by Fig. 8. It has been found that the increasing amount of flexible material at the joint, as the upper part of the latter is approached, causes a gradual decrease in the degree of flexibility at the joint from that of the ber board to that of the flexible material, resulting in a smooth walled bend when the counter 40 is flexed when the shoe is in use. Preferably the overlapping portion of the flexible material at the joint is at the outer side of the counter, this making a smoother bend at the joint, and better permitting the overlapping portion of the counter to be smoothed by sanding it to reduce irregularities, than if the overlapping portion of the fiber board were on the outer side of the counter.

It has been found that in molding the counter there is a tendency for the joint to open, particularly at the end portions thereof, and further a tendency for the joint to open when theV shoe is worn. For this reason additional securing l means are provided for securing the strips. I and 5 to each other, this means preferably consisting of a row of stitching, the stitching preferably extending the entire length of the counter as illustrated in Fig. 3, or, if desired, merely extending inward over the opposite skived end portions of the counter as illustrated in Fig. 6, at which end portions the tendency for the joint to open is greater than at other portions thereof.

Although this stitching may be placed at each parting line between the two strips, preferably it is placed at the parting line on the outer surface of the counter because there the joint exhibits the ,greater tendency to open. The stitching preferably is of such formation as to provide stitches which at one side of the parting line extend through but one of the strips, for example the iiber board as indicated at l1 in Fig. 8, and through both strips at the other side of the parting line as indicated at I9 in said figure, the stitching being of zigzag, cross or other suitable formation to provide portions 2l which cross the parting line. In this way not only is opening of the joint effectively prevented, but the possibility of the lower beveled edge of the upper exible strip curling outward and marring the appearance of the shoe is prevented.

It will be understood that wide deviations may be made from the form of the invention illustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

A molded shoe counter comprising a lower strip of relatively stii sheet material and an upper strip of relatively flexible sheet material, the two strips having overlapping portions of reduced thickness cemented together to form a joint extending lengthwise of the counter intermediate its height, and reinforcing stitching for said joint comprising stitches at that one of the parting lines between the strips where lies the lower edge of the strip of relatively flexible material, said stitches comprising portions which extend through the strip of stiff material at one side of said parting line and other portions which extend through the portions of reduced thickness of both of said strips at the other side of said parting line with connecting stitch portions extending across said parting line from one strip to the other on the surface of the counter.

ARTHUR C. SEWALL. 

